Nostalgia is a powerful tool, my friend.  

Keep in mind a LOT of people's first forays into videogames were in the mid 90's, right when the PS1 and N64 first came out, so for many people Ocarina of Time was the first major release they played, giving it a nostalgic leg-up.  

Lots of people in this thread have given truly fair and understandable explanations as to why it's not QUITE as good as people tend to think of it, but yet you still seem to think it's okay for you to pull a temper tantrum becuase people don't like what you like?  How would you like it if I made a thread asking people why they didn't have Final Fantasy VI or A Link to the Past at the top of their lists?  Hell, I could even 'pull rank' becuase I'm a game reviewer and that could, in theory, make my opinion more valid than yours.  I mean, it's NOT more valuable than yours, such a statement would be absurd, but claiming it was would definitely piss you off something fierce, wouldn't it?  

People who write 'best 100 of all time' articles are prone to just as much bias and nostalgia as you and I; you'd do well to remember that.  

I am currently playing this on my 3DS.. I never enjoyed it that much on the N64 but the revamped graphics, music and controls make it much more enjoyable.. so far I have put in about 10 hours in the game but I still prefer the SNES version: A link to the past and gamecube's: wind waker.

Do you understand what the word 'timeless' means?  It means the game, movie, or other piece of art is relevant always.  Ocarina of time was a good game BECAUSE it was a leap forward into the third dimension.  it's quality was pretty universal, but the reason it is so universally beloved is becuase of its status as the first major adventure game done in true 3D that was as good as it was.  However, now that we have sequels to it that do everything better, it's really just a step.  Compared to modern games, it's got clunky controls, terrible graphics, and some bad game design choices.  

On the opposite end, look at the game Super Mario World.  That game was in 2D with very simple sprites, and yet the controls were impeccable and the level design is, even to this day, unrivaled.  I can go back at any time, any day, and still enjoy every second of that game even though I've beaten it hundreds of times.  THAT is timeless.  Ocarina of Time, on the other hand, just feels like a clunky version of better games. 

And I didn't think Ocarina of Time was that great when I played it in 1998 when it first came out. even back then I thought the graphics were hideous and the controls were sluggish, the world expansive but relatively barren.  THAT'S why I never beat it.  It was becuase I never thought it was all that good, even before it was dubbed 'best game of all time' by countless publications and I got my hateboner for it.  Now that I've grown up a lot, I do game journalism, and I like to consider myself a pretty fair reviewer, I can look at a game's strengths and weaknesses and see that,  yes, this was a great game for its time, but it's not timeless.  It has aged poorly.  

Of course, it doesn't help that Nintendo has basically been remaking the same game over and over again and, in my mind, I'd already played it when I beat A Link to the Past a few years prior. 

HOLY SHIT you are a game reviewer and it took you 10 years to beat OOT, no whether I have I no respect for game reviewers.

And yes just for its pure innovation OOT could be considered the greatest game of all time, nostalgia has nothing to do with that and time cannot take that away.

it didn't 'take' me 10 years to beat it, it took me 14, and I only didn't beat it the first time becuase I was bored as hell by it.  it just seemed really uninteresting to me so I couldn't force myself to keep playing a game that bored me.  There are games I can beat but don't becuase I know better than to keep going once I've come to the realization that I don't like something.  

Sorry but I have to pull up a few things here, OOT can be classed as timeless not because it was the first 3D adventure game but because it showed the industry how to utilize a fully 3D world even today games utilize it's template and what it brought, that in itself is timeless. It may be your taste ain't geared to Zelda but anytime I see someone claim each Zelda is the same it comes more across as someone who doesn't really play the games as it's like saying 3rd Strike is the same as SFIV, the are significant differences in the approach to each game and it's mechanics and many people go back to OOT even today.

I also don't know what games you were playing back then to think the controls where hideous and sluggish because its control scheme is the template for many 3d adventure games today they were well suited to the 3d adventure genre, before OOT many games used the tank control system that RE utilized.

I.....I agree with you.  I'm scared.

I think it's funny how some people in this says "yeah, I played it, was OK, but nothing special, felt quite ordinary" and the like.

Since games are a medium that are so affected by changes in technology, you cannot fairly compare a 1998 game with a 2012 game. OoT is still ranked "the best of all time" because it was groundbreaking and revolutionary in nearly everything it did. Mechanics, gameplay, camera placement, presentation, scope, depth, and most of all, feel.

It is to games what Citizen Kane is to movies. Citizen Kane may look dated today, but it pioneered so many movie techniques and conventions that it is still regard as the best movie ever by many.

When you say best ever, best of all time, etc, that does not mean you can look at the game out of it's historical context, you just can't.

Ocarina of Time blew people's minds when it was released. It was simply unbelievable that such an amazing experience could be created back in 1998.

That subsequent games improved and refined the formula and ultimately are "better" games out of context, these games would never have happened if it weren't for OoT.

My favorite is Majora's Mask, I think it's the best thing since sliced bread.

If I made a top 10 list of my favorite games, OoT wouldn't win. But a top 10 of best games? Definitely.

Pretty much this, OOT wouldn't win my top 10 or even be in it but having been gaming since the 80s it was a massive pioneering splash when it arrived only SM64 can really be considered more influential to 3d gaming.

I like Ocarina of Time but I have some serious gripes. I hated the combat, it too often boiled down to block, counter, repeat and all the while Link screaming "HU! HWA! YA!" with every sword stroke. Mentioning annoying voices "hey listen!" also got old fast. A lot of the combat was also a bit, for the lack of a better term, "rock-paper-scissors" simply boiling down to using the correct gadget.

The music was pretty good but where is the iconic Zelda theme? There were a couple of graphical problems, namely the draw distance. In the very first village you couldn't even see the other elves until you were within 5 feet of them. I would never have found many of them if not for their fairies which were unaffected by the glaring draw distance issue.

Some of the secrets were arbitrarily difficult / time consuming to obtain. I remember following the grave digger around for half an hour trying to get that damn heart piece >_>. Also, finding the skulltulas flat out sucks, all for what, a bigger wallet which isn't of any use after you have essentially done everything in the game.

The story is, well, a typical video game story which would have been fine but I played Metal gear Solid before this. I know MGS wasn't exactly a masterpiece of storytelling but at least I still remember Ocelot and Psycho Mantis as well as the terrifying prospect of stealth nuclear warheads. I remember nothing about OoT's story other than the world being ruined and you having to time travel to fix it.

Finally, having to pause the game, equip the metal boots, walk a couple of feet, pause, unequip the metal boots was annoying the first dozen times. Unless you get everything right immediately then having to repeat this over a hundred times in the Water Temple was just bull sh*t. These are just the things I remember off the top of my head like, three years after I last played it. Seriously, I never, ever understood how the critics overlooked all of the flaws or why so many people refer to OoT as the greatest of all time. Personally, it's not even in my top 100.